Poland and Hungary sent to court a new EU rule that links the bloc's budget to basic democratic standards, news wires reported. The cases at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) mark a new showdown between the two EU Member States accused of democratic backsliding and Brussels. The new rule of law mechanism was built into the 2021-27 spending plan and 750-billion-euro coronavirus stimulus fund.

The Commission and MEPs accused on Wednesday Poland, Hungary and Slovenia of undermining media freedoms and launching attacks on journalists amid the COVID-19 pandemic, news wires reported.

Poland reported on Wednesday 17,260 new daily coronavirus infections, the highest number since the November 2020 pandemic peak, the Health Ministry data showed. With 398 new fatalities, Covid-19 death toll reached nearly 46,000, dpa reported.

The European Union may impose further sanctions on Belarus after Minsk jailed two journalists for filming protests, Poland's state news agency PAP quoted Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau as saying on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Poland’s Health Minister Adam Niedzielski warned that imposing restrictions at the country’s borders with Slovakia and the Czech Republic is now possible due to their rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Independent media outlets in Poland suspended news coverage Wednesday to protest a planned new advertising tax that they view as an attempt by the right-wing government to undermine press freedoms.

Poland's museums and galleries opened to the public on Monday after a months-long hiatus due to the coronavirus restrictions, local media reported. All cultural institutions were ordered to close at the beginning of November last year.

Thousands have protested for a third consecutive night in Warsaw on Friday and other parts of Poland after the country’s rightwing government implemented a court ruling imposing a near-total ban on abortion, AFP reported. Protesters have defied coronavirus restrictions and sub-zero temperatures to rally after the controversial judgment was given legal force on Wednesday.

Armed with red paint and defying coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of Poles rally in Warsaw on Thursday against a court decision imposing a near-total ban on abortion, AFP reported. Protesters also took to the streets in other cities in the second night of outrage after the Constitutional Court ruling came into effect on Wednesday.

A controversial Polish court ruling that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, which came into force on Wednesday, brought thousands into the streets, news wires reported.